ULTIMATE RECORD CHECKLIST
Birth Records
Birth Certificates or Extracts
Civil birth
Religious birth (see religious)
Baptismal Certificates
Adoption
Orphan train
Orphanage
Marriage Records
Civil marriage records
Religious death records (see religious)
Civil divorce records
Consent forms
Intention to marry forms
Marital contracts
Marriage Certificates
Marriage license
Prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements
Death Records
Burial permits
Cemetery deeds
Cemetery records
Civil death certificates
Coroner or medical examiner reports
Death Certificates
Death Index
Funeral home account books
Funeral directors’ records
Funerary cards
Grave opening orders
Grave relocation records
Gravestone inscriptions
Graveyard or cemetery caretaker
Interment records
Monument company
Online memorials
Online obituaries
Religious death (see religious)
Social Security
Religious Records
Congregation histories
Dismissions
Dispensations
Lists of communicants
Marriage banns
Meeting notes
Parish registers of births, baptisms and christenings
Parish registers of confirmations
Parish registers of families
Parish registers of marriages
Parish registers of deaths, burials or interments
Parish registers of tithe payments
Paupers’ fund reports
Pew rental listings
Session minutes
Specialized records
Sunday school records
Vestry minutes
Newspaper Records
Advertisements
Articles of interest
Auctions
Bankruptcies
Birth announcements
Burial events
Company dissolutions
Court records
Death notices
Divorces
Engagement announcements
Gossip columns
Graduations
Insolvency lists
Jury selections
Land transfers
Legal notices
Magazines
Marriage announcements
Marriage licenses
Memorial announcements
Military draft lists
Missing heir advertisements
Missing immigrant advertisements
Natural disaster news
Newspaper cuttings
Obituaries
Passenger ship advertisements
Passenger ship arrivals
Probate notices
Public announcements
Public thank you notices
Reunions
Runaway slave advertisements
Social events and gatherings
Society columns
Unclaimed letters or mail lists
Wedding and anniversary announcements
Home & Family Records
Artifacts and ephemera
Autograph Books
Baby Books
Bibles, family
Birthday Cards
Cards: Birthday, Marriage, Memorial, Bereavement, etc
Cards: Membership, etc.
Certificate of Membership
Council Rates receipts
Church Newsletters
Diaries and journals
Driving Licences
Handcrafted samplers and quilts
Illuminated Addresses
Insurance Records
Interviews, oral and written
Legal papers
Letters and postcards
Keepsakes
Medical records
Newsletters
Personal address books
Photographs & Photo albums
Post Cards
Recipe cards or books
Report cards
Reunion memorabilia
Scrapbooks
Social media family groups
Sporting Trophies or Awards
Wedding albums and memorabilia
Probate Records
Administrative accounts
Court orders
Dower records
Estate papers
Guardian accounts
Guardian appointments
Inventories (chattel, slave lists)
Petitions
Probate records
Wills
Immigration & Travel Records
Alien registration cards
Emmigration Papers
Immigration papers
Incoming passenger lists
Indentures
List of aliens
List of citizens
Outgoing passenger lists
Passports and applications
Naturalization Records
Certificates of Naturalization (plus stubs)
Declaration of Intention (first papers)
Petition with testimony and residency (second papers)
Land Records
Bureau of Land Management land patents
Deeds or conveyances
Deeds of trust
Federal bounty land warrants
Federal land grants
General Land Office patents
Homestead grants
Land surveys
Leaseholds
Military bounty land warrants
Mortgages
Sheriffs’ sales
State land grants Warrants
Title Deeds to Land or Property
Tax Records
Land tax digests
Real estate property tax records
State tax lists
Tax papers or Returns
Societal Records
Almshouse records
Disaster records (natural and travel)
Dog license applications
Ethnic organizations and societies
Insurance maps
Online surname communities
Voter registrations
Census & Population Records
Agricultural schedules
Census maps
Census substitutes
Dawes Rolls
Defective, Dependent and Delinquent classes
Electoral Roll registrations
Federal censuses
Indian Census Rolls
Industrial schedules
Manufacturing schedules
Military censuses
Mortality schedules
Population registers
Sheriffs’ censuses
Slave schedules
Slave statistics registers
State censuses
Court Records
Appeals
Bastardy cases
Case files
Criminal records
Docket books
Judgement docket books
Minute books
Name changes
Order books
Penitentiary records
Petitions
Prison records
DNA Records & Methods
Cousin matches
DNA testing
Autosomal DNA tools
Chromosome mapping
Triangulation
DNA painter tools
DNA ethnicity estimate graphs
DNA methods (Leeds, McGuire)
mtDNA tools
Y-DNA tools
Surname projects
General Genealogical Records
Biographical directories or histories
Books about ancestors' communities
Document abstracts
Document transcriptions
Genealogical journals
Genealogical society newsletters
Genealogical society surname files
Lineage organizations and societies
Pedigree databases (DAR)
Published case studies
Published family histories
Published genealogies
Work & Community Records
Accounting Books
Apprentice records
Bankruptcy
Business Records
City directories
Doctors’ journals or diaries
Employment licenses
Employment Records
Freedman’s records
Histories
Labor union records
Licenses for trades and professions
Life insurance records
Maps of geographical areas
Membership Cards; Union, etc.
Mining accident records
Mining employment records
Organizations and societies (labor, trade)
Pensions
Personnel records
Plantation records
Police Force Service Record
Post Office records
Professional directories
Professional licenses
Railroad accident records
Railroad employment records
Telephone directories
Work References (personal)
Works Progress Administration records (Jul 1 1939 to Jun 30 1943)
Military Records
Artifacts
Burial records
Court martials
Discharge records
Draft cards
Headstone applications
Interment records
Medals
Military academy records
Military history books
Military papers
Military record
National Service Records
Payrolls
Pension applications
Pension payment cards
Pension records
Prisoners of war records
Register of enlistments
Selective Service
Service folder of records
Service Record
State militia records
Trench Art
Veteran compensation applications
Veteran benefits records
War bounty land warrants
School Records
Awards, Diplomas, etc
Class Reunion Histories
College Directories
Diplomas, Awards, etc
Education Department Records
Graduation Records
School Awards for Achievement
School Histories
School Mother's Club Newsletters
School Newsletters
School photos
School records
School Reports or Cards
School Yearbooks
Yearbooks